issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 330 (2021)
04.11.2021
Judgments and decisions of 4 November 2021
The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing four judgments1 and 23 decisions2:
three Chamber judgments are summarised below;
a separate press release has been issued for one decision in the case of Dragnea v. Romania
(application no. 75317/17);
one Committee judgment, concerning issues which have already been examined by the Court, and
The judgments summarised below are available only in English.
Khojoyan and Vardazaryan v. Azerbaijan (application no. 62161/14)
The applicants, Hasmik Khojoyan, Heghine Vardazaryan and Haykaz Khojoyan (now deceased), are
three Armenian nationals who were born in 1964, 1967 and 1959, respectively.
The case concerns the captivity and alleged ill-treatment of the applicants’ father, Mamikon
Khojoyan, in Azerbaijan in early 2014. The applicants’ father left his home in Armenia, close to the
border with Azerbaijan on the morning of 28 January 2014. It was reported in the Azerbaijani news
two days later that he was an armed guide of an Armenian sabotage group and was being detained.
He was handed over to the Armenian authorities on 4 March 2014 and died at home ten weeks
later.
Relying on Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture), Article 5 (right to liberty and
security), Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the
European Convention on Human Rights, the applicants allege that their father was tortured during
his captivity, including severe beatings, being burnt with incandescent metal and drug injections,
which had posed a danger to his life and which had not been investigated, that he was unlawfully
deprived of his liberty, that they did not have an effective legal remedy and that the alleged
violations occurred as a result of discrimination based on ethnic origin.
Violation of Article 2 (right to life) in respect of Mamikon Khojoyan
Violation of Article 2 (investigation) in respect of Mamikon Khojoyan
Violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) on account of Mamikon Khojoyan’s torture
No violation of Article 3 in respect of the applicants
Violation of Article 5 in respect of Mamikon Khojoyan
Just satisfaction:
non-pecuniary damage: 40,000 euros (EUR) jointly to the applicants
costs and expenses: the Court rejected the applicants’ claim for costs and expenses
1
Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, Chamber judgments are not final. During the three-month period following a judgment’s
delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five
judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final
judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Under Article 28 of the Convention,
judgments delivered by a Committee are final.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.
Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution.
2
Inadmissibility and strike-out decisions are final.
